Bank of China participates in $571.6 million syndicated loan for the Mantoverde Copper Mine Development Project

Project narrative

On February 11, 2021, Mantoverde S.A. — a special purpose vehicle and joint venture of Orion Mine Finance, Audley Capital Advisors, and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation — signed a $571.6 million syndicated and secured loan agreement with a group of banks and export credit agencies for the Mantoverde Copper Mine Development Project. The loan consists of two tranches (facilities): a $520 million, 12-year senior secured amortizing project debt facility and a $51.6 million, 10-year senior secured closure bonding facility. Finnish export credit agency Finnvera has given a raw material guarantee for the project, that covers $250 million of the senior debt. The guarantee is linked to a 10-year offtake agreement for 75,000 tons per annum (tpa) of copper concentrate with Boliden Commercial. The purpose of the project is to expand the Mantoverde copper mine in Chile. The Mantoverde mine is a 2,770-hectare open pit oxide operation located in the Atacama Region in Northern Chile. The mine has been operating since 1995 and it includes a solvent extraction electrowinning processing plant designed to produce up to 60,000 tons of copper cathode per annum (“tpa”). The existing operation currently produces approximately 45,000 tpa of cathodes, which are transported by truck to the ports of Angamos and Antofagasta. The Mantoverde Copper Mine Development Project involves the open pit extraction of sulphide ore, which lies below the existing oxide pits. Sulphide reserves from these deposits will be processed through a new concentrator plant to produce copper concentrates containing gold as by-product. The concentrates will be thickened, filtered, and ultimately transported by truck to a port in the region. The project will consist of the expansion of existing (i) oxide pits, (ii) tailing storage facility, (iii) desalination plant, and (iv) ancillary works related to expansion; as well as the construction of a new concentrator plant. This is a large scale project, with material impact in job creation, contribution to Chile’s GDP and will help contribute to bridging the global copper supply gap once operational. Ausenco Chile Ltda. is the contractor responsible for project implementation. Finnvera indicated that it saw comprehensive environmental and social impact assessments -- which should include consideration of governance, employees’ rights and working conditions, emissions, land acquisition and impacts on surrounding communities, as well as impacts on biodiversity, among other things -- as required for the project given its potential impacts. An Environmental Impact Assessment summary was published in January 2017.